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@#This report illustrates how the Government of Mongolia responded to a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases during 2021 and took urgent actions to minimize preventable mortality. The analytical framework on efficient ICU bed management through a systems approach would be useful in similar settings.
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@#Field Epidemiology Training Programmes (FETPs), which are modelled after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service programme, began in 1980 and have produced graduates in more than 70 countries, including 12 in the Western Pacific Region.1,2 These programmes aim to “build sustainable capacity for detecting and responding to public health threats” and “develop expertise so that disease outbreaks can be detected locally and prevented from spreading”.3 FETPs thus include training in applied epidemiology and public health services. FETP trainees and graduates, however, often have additional responsibilities: mentoring newer trainees, supervising in the field, leading short training courses, facilitating meetings, etc. Programmes therefore must provide trainees with the knowledge and skills to fulfil these responsibilities.
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The Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED) requires collaboration, consensus, and partnership across all the different actors and sectors involved in different aspects of emerging disease. Guided by APSED, Mongolia has established a functional coordination mechanism between the animal and human health sectors. Surveillance, information exchange and risk assessment, risk reduction, and coordinated response capacity and collaborative research have been identified as the four pillars of the zoonoses framework. Intersectoral collaboration has been clearly shown to be a crucial tool in the prevention and control of emerging zoonotic diseases. A "One Health" strategy has been implemented under the concept of 'Healthy animal-Healthy food-Healthy people'. An intersectoral coordination mechanism established between the veterinary and public health sectors has expanded its function to incorporate more work on food safety, emergency management, and effects of climate change on zoonotic diseases. Its membership includes the human health sector, the veterinary sector, the national emergency management agency, the environment sector, emergency management and inspection authorities, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The main outputs of the coordination mechanism have been strengthened surveillance and response activities and laboratory capacities. The coordination mechanism has also strengthened the surveillance and response capacity of neglected zoonotic diseases, such as brucellosis, anthrax, and tick-borne diseases. Through regular meetings and brainstorming sessions, both sectors have developed joint operational plans, a long-term risk reduction plan 2011-2015, initiated a prioritization exercise and risk assessment for 29 zoonotic diseases, and reviewed and revised standards, procedures, and communication strategies. In 2011, a list of experts on major zoonoses were identified from different sectors and formed into a taskforce to identify the focal points for rabies, brucellosis, and vector-borne diseases. As a result, disease control strategies are now linked to scientific research and epidemiological expertise.